Stevens Dies in Plane Crash

Former Senator Ted Stevens died when the small plane he was ridinig in Alaska on Monday. Another high-profile passenger on the plane, the North American boss of European defense contractor EADS, was also on board and survived.

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Former US senator Ted Stevens was among five passengers who died when a small plane crashed in Alaska, local media citing a family friend reported Tuesday.Alaskan NBC television affiliate KTUU quoted Dave Dittman, a former aide and longtime friend of Stevens, as saying the 86-year-old Republican politician died in the crash, which occurred in a remote region of the state on Monday.A total of nine people were on board the plane, including former NASA chief Sean O'Keefe, the current North American boss of European aerospace giant EADS.

A plane believed to be carrying eight passengers has crashed in Alaska, the US state's National Guard said early Tuesday.The Anchorage Daily News reported that Alaska's former US senator Ted Stevens was traveling by plane Monday in the vicinity of the crash, and that his wife was concerned that he was on board the doomed aircraft.The daily said Stevens, 86, was flying to the Agulowak Lodge, owned by the GCI company which also owns the single engine plane that crashed.

EADS North America boss Sean O'Keefe was among eight or nine people on board a small plane that crashed in Alaska, the company said Tuesday, but it was unclear if he was among the five people officials report were killed.News reports have said that Alaska's former US senator Ted Stevens was also on the flight, which crashed Monday night near the town of Aleknagik, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.